Port Moresby: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took aim at Western powers in the AUKUS trilateral security partnership, accusing them of stoking division and increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation in the South Pacific, Nikkei Asia reported on Sunday. AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership designed to build a stronger, more resilient trilateral submarine industrial base while supporting submarine production and maintenance in all three countries. It came as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday lauded diplomatic achievements with Papua New Guinea during his visit to the country, part of Beijing’s initiative to strengthen ties with the Pacific island nation.
The Chinese foreign minister’s visit comes just days before Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to arrive in Papua New Guinea, once again highlighting the struggle for influence between China and US allies. Nikkei Asia reported, AUKUS Referring to announcements made by the countries earlier this month that they are considering cooperating with Japan on sharing advanced technology, Wang said, “Such an initiative could promote block confrontation. Recent efforts to attract more countries to join are completely inconsistent.” The urgent needs of island nations.” He criticized US and Australia’s relations with Pacific island nations, saying, “The South Pacific should not become an arena for great power competition. No country should treat island nations as its ‘backyard’ and engage in zero-sum games or exclusionary arrangements,” pointing to historical views that Australia regarded the South Pacific as its own. Backyard believes. Beijing and Port Moresby will also begin negotiations on a free trade agreement as soon as possible and build police cooperation, according to a press release published by the Foreign Ministry after Wang’s meeting with Tachenko, Nikkei Asia reported.
Beijing’s efforts to push for police and security agreements with Papua New Guinea in recent years have been unsuccessful, Nikkei Asia reports. During a visit to Pacific island nations in June 2022, Wang proposed a comprehensive regional security agreement that would increase China’s involvement in police training, cybersecurity and sensitive maritime mapping while gaining greater access to natural resources. The deal ultimately collapsed, with Papua New Guinea among those who rejected the proposal.
“There is resentment over the Pacific deal on security matters,” Elias Vohengu, Papua New Guinea’s foreign affairs secretary, told the Post Courier newspaper at the time. Vohengu indicated that Papua New Guinea was unlikely to sign the security agreement, saying, “On the security situation in Papua New Guinea, we will deal with it ourselves.” Washington and Canberra have criticized China, which has made incursions into the Solomon Islands. “The increased police presence in the Solomon Islands is worrying,” John Aquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, told reporters in Sydney earlier this month. “He’s got his foot in the door.” But while big players are jostling for influence, Papua New Guinea remains “pragmatic in its approach to global powers”, said Michael Kabuni, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University. According to the report, this means establishing Australia and the US as security partners, while maintaining relations with China as an important economic partner.
